Biography: Walter Lantz

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Birth/Death
Birth: April 27, 1899, New Rochelle, New York
Death: March 22, 1994, Burbank, California

Bio Summary
Walter Lantz was born into a family of Italian immgrants in Westchester County, 16 miles from New York City. Watching Gertie the Dinosaur immediately ignited his passion for animation. While working as an auto mechanic by day, he met a shop customer who helped young Lantz start his career as an artist by paying for his Art Studies League classes.

1924 saw the premiere of his first animated short film, Dinky Doodle. Four years later, film producer Charles B. Mintz hired him to direct some Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a character stolen from Walt Disney) shorts for Universal. Lantz won all applicable rights to the Oswald character in a card game bet with Carl Lammele.

Early Life/Family

Education/Training

Career Outline

Comments On Style

Influences

Personality

Anecdotes

“1899 is the correct birth year. When Walter turned 40 in 1939, he gave himself one more year in his 30s and listed his birth year as 1900 for the trade annuals — then forgot he had been creative, and maintained 1900 as his birth year for decades! Late in life, though, he caught himself, and admitted that 1899 had been correct all along”
-Joe Adamson

I would like to thank the membership of The International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood for sponsoring my efforts to get this project off the ground during its first few years. In particular, I owe a debt of gratitude to ASIFA-Hollywood's president, Antran Manoogian. Without his unwavering support and valuable guidance this project would not exist. -Stephen Worth